After a lull of four days, the Chittoor district administration was on toes on Sunday, with the surfacing of a new COVID-19 positive case at Vadamala village of Vadamalapeta mandal in Nagari Assembly constituency. This took the total to 21 positive cases in the district, including six cases in Nagari constituency. So far, one youth, a London returnee at Srikalahasti town, was discharged a few days ago after treatment.
According to COVID-19 Task Force officials, the youth of the said village returned from New Delhi by flight in the third week of March. “He was found to have travelled with those who attended the Jamaat meet,” an official said. Based on intelligence reports, the youth was quarantined at Padmavathi Nilayam in Tirupati on April 9, and his sample tested positive on Sunday.
Roja visits village
APIIC chairperson R.K. Roja and COVID-19 Task Force special officer (Nagari) Dr P. Ravi Raju along with senior district officials rushed to the village and initiated spraying of disinfectants there. The officials had declared the village as a red zone, cordoning off the entry and exit points. After a preliminary inquiry in the neighbourhood, about a dozen residents, including the patient’s family members, were sent for quarantine.
Roja, who took part in spraying the disinfectant in the village, urged the residents to strictly follow the lockdown rules, and compulsorily wear face masks and adhere to other key precautions.
Norms violated
Meanwhile, the social distancing norm was violated at several places in the district, with huge crowds turning up at meat and chicken shops on Sunday. While the police kept guard at the district headquarters, their presence at Madanapalle, Piler, Puttur and Satyavedu remained thin during the relaxation period, allowing heavy movement of public on the roads.
